Caged And Fearful

My roar can be heard from across the field; hauntingly loud,

As I let my displeasure soar through the skies,

Grumbles and rumbles reverb from my throat,

And my tears slither from my desperate eyes.

**

I pace the naked wooden floors; limited in space,

Three paces to the left, turn, three paces to the right, turn,

My muscles ache from the constant stress, the never-ending tension,

Sinew stretching to the end of its tether in a fevered burn.

**

My mane is knotted; a tangled mess of dreadlocked fur,

My beard wet from the tears that endlessly fall,

My heart beats against my muscular chest; attempting to burst,

As I roar again, although nobody heeds my desperate call.

**

I lean wearily against the ice cold bars that trap me,

Pushing against them with all my might,

Mandatorily fighting for my freedom,

Refusing to accept this to be my plight.

**

The night begins to fade and the new day is dawning,

Sleep has not given me comfort nor pretended to befriend,

My paws beg for rest, a temporary respite from holding my weight,

And my mind begs silently for it all to end.

**

I was never meant to be captured and caged,

A wild animal; I’m the King of the forest creatures,

A lion of magnitude; once leader of my pride,

But now I’m a wastrel, a lowly form of my once magnificent features.

**

My spirit has been broken from all the years imprisoned,

But come what may, these humans will never silence my roar,

They’ll never force me to abandon my will, my need to escape,

Nor my memories of the land, the forest, the territory I roamed before.

This poem was written in response to a prompt in Vocal * Voices In Minor Facebook Group.

The prompt I chose :

Write a story from the point of view of a zoo animal. Are they scared, lonely or happy?

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Originally published on Medium